‘Broken Window Theory’ gets a boost from the University of Groningen
It seems like common sense. If social standards appear to be low, many people will not work to exceed them, as “ordinary people are in fact more likely to violate rules in situations where other rules — even completely unrelated ones — have already been broken.” This also plays well with “the banality of evil” and Dr. Zimbardo’s ‘Lucifer Effect.’
Broken window theory (BWT), first proposed by James Wilson and George Kelling in 1982, holds that the presence of disorder — in the form of broken windows, litter, and graffiti — can encourage delinquent behavior. BWT promotes a “nip it in the bud” stance toward crime prevention: Fix small problems (like litter) before big problems (like theft) have a chance to occur. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani was a loyal subscriber to the theory. He focused on small-scale issues like graffiti, prostitution, and squeegee men to influence, and ultimately drive down, crime in a seemingly unmanageable city…
…But these new findings by Kees Keizer, Siegwart Lindenberg, and Linda Steg (University of Groningen) show that ordinary people are in fact more likely to violate rules in situations where other rules — even completely unrelated ones — have already been broken.
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